New Years Resolutions 2013

I'll admit, new years resolutions are cliche, and very rarely kept, and yet I have made them nevertheless.

Twenty Thirteen is set to be a very big year for me, even without grandiose resolutions. This coming year I will graduate college with my master's degree, take my national certification exam, and get my first occupational therapy job. In 2013, I will be more adult than ever (or at least appear that way :) ).

Before I begin, I would like to thank the inspiration for these resolutions - my brother Matthew, my lack of muscles, and my muffin top.

Without further ado, here they are:

1. Run 100 miles
2. Bike 100 miles
3. Walk 100 miles
4. Do 100 consecutive push-ups (
5. Do 100 consecutive sit-ups
6. Do 5 pull-ups
5. Accomplish 5 bucket list items
6. Complete the corporal works of mercy (my brother Matthew left a copy of these in my room, conveniently).
       -Feed the hungry
       -Give drink to the thirsty
       -Clothe the naked
       - Shelter the homeless
       - Care for the sick
       -Visit Prisoners
       - Bury the dead
7. Bother those with OCD by making those dashes subtly uneven. Look at that, I accomplished one before the new year even started. Boo ya!

Wish me luck!

Bucket List - for real this time

So a while ago I tried to post my bucket list in segements and explain everything all nice and fancy, but I only ended up posting a bit of it...so here's the entire thing, uninterrupted by my annoying commentary.

-           Bring Grandma to Italy

-           Camp in the Adirondacks 

-           Do the Moonlight Maize Maze

-           Glow in the dark frisbee

-           Go horseback riding

-           Go Mountain Biking

-           Go mountain climbing

-           Go scuba diving

-            Go sledding in the dark

-           Go snowshoeing

-           Go to a cheese rolling festival (with Joanna)

-           Complete a travel OT assignment

-           Go to a World Cup match

-           Go to the Holi festival in India (Late Feb – Early March)

-           Go to the Tomatina Festival in Spain (Last Wednesday in August in Bunol, Spain)

-           Go whitewater rafting

-           Go Zorbing

-           Help build a habitat for humanity home

-           Hike part of the Appalachian Trail

-           Hike the Kalalau Trail in Hawaii

-           Hike the Narrows

-           Learn to change a tire

-           Learn to ride a unicycle

-           Learn to ski or snowboard

-           Learn to surf                        

-           Ride the London Eye (with Olivia)

-           Mush a dog sled  

-           Pet a panda

-           Play the giant piano at FAO Schwarz             

-           Ride a mechanical bull      

-           Ride an Elephant

-           Ride in a hot air balloon                    

-           Ride part of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail     

-           See a Hibachi chef in action            

-           See the Aurora Borealis     

-           See the giant Jesus in Rio De Janiero              

-           Swim in every ocean. Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Southern.

-           Take a picture with the statues on Easter Island

-           Throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain

-           Tour the Ben and Jerry’s factory

-           Try sushi

-           Try Windsurfing and/or kite surfing                

-           Visit New Orleans during Mardi Gras

-           Visit the Library of Congress

-           Walk on the Great Wall of China

-           Walk the entire outlet trail

-           Learn to ride a skateboard

-           Get published

-           Go waterskiing

                  

            There it is, in all its glory. Sidenote: Was anyone else taught that there were only four oceans? I was...apparently they changed it in 2000, and there are now 5. Who knew?

Jehovah's Witnesses (An oldie that never got posted for some reason)

Today as I was leaving to pick Andrew up from practice, I was accosted by some religious nuts. Sorry, that was mean, but I really hate it when people try to force their beliefs on me.

So these two middle age women introduce themselves as Gail and Joan (or some equally old lady sounding names) and begin asking me if I ever wondered if God loved me and if it's hard for me to read the bible. Note that they were saying this in that condescending I'm-teaching-you-something tone. They stood too close to me and I kind of thought they were going to storm the house. The worst part is that I had to answer because I was standing right in the doorway when they knocked and scared the shit out of me. They even asked when they could come back to talk again...what about never? Now witness me leaving. 

Gosh that sounded rude. Well, so be it. Freedom of religion is great and everything, but it can be god-awful annoying sometimes. Even so it makes me glad to live in America where people can go around talking about their religious beliefs without fearing violence (for the most part).

"Chocolately crack in non-newtonian fluid form"

People, I don't mean to be overzealous, but I think everyone should know that there is a diner in Rochester that sells nutella milkshakes. Yes, nutella and milk and ice cream and whatever other kind of addictive crack-like substance they combine to make that fabulous fusion of heavenly liquid. Yeah, it was pretty good. Also, it's huge. so if you go to the Highland Park Diner in Rochester to try one, share with a friend...one order is three and a half fancy milkshake glass's worth. Speaking of nutella, I also had a nutella crepe at simply crepes, which was of course fabulous! Last nutella related comment - why is there a little red line under the word nutella? I tried capitalizing it...no dice. I think the internet should be aware of how to spell nutella. I might also add that I am a recent convert to the cult of nutella, not having tried it until my junior year of college.

Now for a story completely unrelated to nutella...damn that stuff is good. It's like chocolately crack in non-newtonian fluid form. Anyway, Joanna and I went on our annual Grimes Glen adventure, and this time Meg and Nicole came too. It was awesome and exhausting as usual. This time we went further than we ever had before and scaled waterfalls like the beasts we are :). Meg was both baptized and knighted on the same day, and we made friends with a cute little toad!

Oh dude, the internet heard my complaint...the red lines are gone! Now I'm questioning my own sanity...but if I was going to hallucinate, I hope my wonderful brain could conjure up something more interesting that fake spelling errors. Anyway, I thought I had one more semi-interesting thing to say...oh yeah, We had a bonfire at Meg's house too. We had coffee milk (a weird Rhode Island thing) and s'mores, which were mediocre (as always. I mean really, the best part of s'mores is the anticipation). Maybe a nutella s'more... oh damn the red line is back... just one though. The internet is bipolar.

One last nutella related comment...nutella was sued for false advertising. Apparently people are dumb enough to believe that a chocolatey, creamy, globular, substance is somehow healthy. Ridiculous. Here's the story. http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/consumer&id=8640316

Socks.

So my first taste of the real adult world is going really well. I'm loving my internship in a brain injury and acute rehab unit and am learning so much every day!! I especially love watching the mind-boggling progress a person can make in just a few short weeks. Let me tell you though, it is super duper hard to put socks on another person.

Next, I went to the zoo on Saturday, and it was awesome.

And finally, I'm trying to bike/hike/run 100 miles by September 9th. So far I have 42. Wish me luck!

random tidbits

So I haven't done anything particullarly blog worthy recently, but here's a little something (Joanna!).

Today I helped put flags on veterans' graves at a local cemetery. That was cool.

Yesterday a rapper performed at this event I was at. I did not 'put my hands in the air.'

Epic fail of the month: I made a your mom joke to someone whose mother is dead.

My roommate and I attempted to drink water out of bowls like dogs, and through our 'tongue straws'.

I also saw a tutu made out of red solo cups yesterday. I went to a fashion show for work.

Okay, that's all I can think of right now. I have this incredible urge to go camping...too bad school is still in session.

 Oh, also, I feel a bit twilight zone-ish, because I'm graduating in like 35 days!! WHOA!!

Sigh.

I guess I'll just regale you with some stories of crazy dd customers.

Types of funny/annoying customers:

1. The Goldilocks.
I cannot tell you how many times a day people complain to me that their coffee is too hot. Seriously? you ordered HOT coffee. It's in the name. So then I remind them that we have iced coffee too. Oh no, that's too cold. So then I put ice cubes in their coffee. Whatever, just means less coffee for you. I especially enjoy when they specify how many ice cubes they want.

2. The really specific orderer:
I love it when people come through the drive thru and are like "I need (you really don't NEED anything from dd, but okay) an extra large hot coffee with 6 skim milk, 8 splenda, 4 pumps of caramel swirl, 4 ice cubes, and could you stir that really really really really really really well, like, with a spoon." We're supposed to have the customers through the line in 2:30. It takes these people 2 mins and thirty seconds to order.

3. The indecisive drive thru-er
If you don't know what you want, and can't decide within a minute of looking at the menu, please come inside. As I said, we're timed, and your um..., uh..., is not helping us.

4. The smoker.
I dont want your secondhand smoke in my face when I have to hand you your change.

5. The bad driver.
I hate it when I have to like climb out the window to give someone their change. "somebody hold my feet!!"

6. Just plain inconsiderate
Don't make me wait for you to finish your phone call. Don't make me stand there with the window open in the winter while you search for 4 pennies. Don't come in and order a gigantic order with no warning and expect it to magically be ready in a flash. Big orders take a while.

7. Impatient:
Where else does your food come within two minutes. Hold your damn horses. This is what's wrong with America. I'd like to see you make 6 sandwiches and coffees in that time.

8. Anger Management:
One time a guy threw a pound of coffee at one of my coworkers because his food didnt come fast enough. People swear and yell at us regularly. One guy swore at us, squeeled his tires and sped off because we were out of glazed donuts. Then he came inside and yelled some until he finally decided on a different donut. People are just ridiculous sometimes.

Honorable mention:

- This guy a couple of weeks ago asked me if he could get my number so he could "shoot my hands" (take pictures of my hands for a project he was doing, apparently). Don't worry, I said no. Creeptastic.